Koman Coulibaly Not Refereeing Any More 2010 World Cup Games

Referee Koman Coulibay, who made the controversial decision to disallow a United States goal against Slovenia, says he does not believe he’ll be refereeing any more games in the 2010 World Cup.

In an exclusive interview with ESPN Radio, Coulibay says, “No, I don’t believe I’m going to be refereeing another game. We have been booked in the first round, and there were many referees. And I don’t count on having another game. But I will be staying here, and if there’s any possibility, of course, I will be very happy.”

When Coulibay was asked to explain why Maurice Edu’s goal was disallowed, the referee from Mali was non-committal. “I am not ready to tell the explanation,” says Coulibay. “What I did is that I gave to the refereeing commission the evaluation of the game, and if you have any questions, you ask them.”

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Publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris founded the site in 2005. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who was born and raised in Wales, has lived in Florida since 1984, and supported Swansea City since 1979. Last but not least, he got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.

4 Comments

AndreiJune 29, 2010

I think that the US fans should stop obsessing about the referees who wronged the US team. As bad as some of the calls were they didn’t change the overall outcome of the US campaign.

Actually we don’t know how it would have changed the outcome of the US campaign. If the third goal would have stood, then the US would have been fine with a draw in the final group match thus they could have rested a few players and not commit so much to getting the win. Same goes for Dempsey’s goal in the Algeria match. If it had counted then the US would have not pushed so hard for the full 90-minutes and probably would have had a bit more energy for the Ghana match. Would it have changed the outcome of that game, I have no idea but I’m sure that if a couple players who started the Ghana match had had extra rest, then they might have been able to give more late.

In the end there is nothing we can do to change the results that have happen however we don’t point out our issues now, when should we point them out?

I think not just USMNT fans deserve an explanation but everyone who actually paid attention to the match and understood how badly it was called, you couldn’t hesitate to believe Coulibay made some pre-match deals of some sort. It wouldn’t be surprising if it is later revealed fraudulent pay-offs or incentives were presented to Coulibay for the decisions he made during that match.